Tag Archives: Acquisitions

Fitch Ratings downgraded mortgage servicer ratings for Litton Loan Servicing LLP following Litton's acquisition by Ocwen Financial Corp. The agency cut Litton's product servicer ratings in a number of categories, dropping them from RPS1 to RPS3. In addition, Litton's servicer rating for manufactured housing product dropped to RPS3 from RPS2, and its residential special servicer rating fell to RSS3 from RPS1. These drops illustrate a fall from Fitch's highest standards of servicing to average. The ratings downgrade comes in light of Ocwen's acquisition of Litton last year.

Loan origination software provider Mortgage Builder announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire GCC Servicing Systems, a leading loan servicing software provider. GCC is the creator a G/Serv, a mortgage servicing software that automates servicing administration function and is commonly used among mid-tier lenders and mortgage companies, a market sector it shares with Mortgage Builder. The acquisition of GCC will allow Mortgage Builder to offer a new platform for lenders.

After suffering from bad loans during the financial crisis, Ally Financial looks to close the books on its share of ownership in the mortgage business. Executives with Ally took to the phone with investors Tuesday to explain a filing for bankruptcy protection Monday by subsidiary Residential Capital LLC. The consensus: Residential mortgage loans are out for Ally and auto finance is back in the center. Ally will still subservice loans via ResCap while it serves as counterparty to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Residential Capital LLC, the embattled mortgage subsidiary of Ally Financial, filed Chapter 11 Monday, with Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. set to acquire it. The Detroit-based company framed the move as a way to shave losses, repay taxpayers, and preserve its position as an auto lender. Lewisville, Texas-based Nationstar said in a separate announcement that it would acquire ResCap, with the purchase including $374 billion in mortgage servicing assets and $201 billion in primary residential mortgage servicing rights.

Federal regulators shuttered a Florida bank Friday, raising the national bank failure tally so far this year to 23. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the North Lauderdale-based Security Bank, National Association, and appointed the FDIC receiver. The financial institution went under with $101 million in total assets and $99.1 million in total deposits. The costs to the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Deposit Insurance Fund totaled $10.8 million, a fact the FDIC said marked the least costly resolution for it this year.

Davis + Henderson Corp. recently expanded the scope of its mortgage loan origination software by acquiring Avista Solutions, Inc. The Toronto, Ontario-based lender listed $40 million for a purchase price and said it would tap into existing credit facilities to expand credit facilities. D+H billed the move as one that allows it to complement the Mortgagebot subsidiary it currently owns and uses to reach more than 1,100 banks and credit unions.

Another bank fell quiet in Michigan Friday, lifting the national tally to 16 this year but falling short of the pace set by bank failures over the last several years. State regulators shuttered Dearborn-based Fidelity Bank, citing unsafe and unsound conditions in an order that made the FDIC receiver for $818.2 million in total assets and $747.6 million in total deposits. The Huntington National Bank stepped up to assume nearly all of Fidelity├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós assets, along with 15 branches that it rebranded and reopened Saturday.

State regulators shuttered two banks Friday, lifting the national tally to 15 for 2012 so far. Branches fell dark for Rock Spring, Georgia-based Covenant Bank & Trust and Wilmette, Illinois-based Premier Bank. Covenant Bank & Trust went under with $95.7 million in total assets and $90.6 million in total deposits, burning $31.5 million from the FDIC├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Deposit Insurance Fund. Stearns Bank signed off on a loss-share transaction to cover $71.6 million in assets from the financial institution. The International Bank of Chicago picked up Premier Bank in a separate transaction.

PNC Financial Services Group completed the acquisition of RBC Bank, reopening more than 400 branches across six Southeastern states as PNC banks. At 415 branches, this was PNC's single largest conversion occurring at one time. Former RBC branches were in business March 5 as PNC Banks in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The conversation also involved the transition of 900,000 customers. The Pittsburgh-based bank now has 2,900 locations across 19 states and the District of Columbia, according to a company release.

The bank failure tally for 2012 rose Friday as state regulators shuttered a bank in Georgia, emboldening the state's reputation as a graveyard for community banks in recent years. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance turned off the lights for Doraville-based Global Commerce Bank, which went under with about $143.7 million in total assets and $116.8 million in total deposits. Neighboring Metro City Bank entered into a purchase-and-assumption transaction with the FDIC, scooping up $79 million in assets and leaving the rest to the agency for disposition.